Question: giita dhyaanam.h

[Shrisha Rao]

On Mon, 10 Jan 2000, Jaldhar H. Vyas wrote:

> On Mon, 10 Jan 2000, Ravisankar S. Mayavaram wrote:
>
> > Few months (or a year) back, there was question in dvaita list on
> > the authorship of giita dhyaana shloka-s which are normally
> > recited by smaarta-s. (paarthaaya pratibodhitaam ...).

> I thought they came from Varaha Purana?

I doubt that very much, although I have heard claims to that effect.  The
Varaha, as other texts of its class, is very much cast in the mold of the
Pancharatras, and would not praise the 'Gita as `advaitAmR^itavarshhiNIM',
etc.  The Varaha is in the form of a discourse given by Vishnu in the
Varaha form to Bhudevi, and mainly concerns itself with rules for
Vaishnava worship and cleanliness.  Many of these (such as requiring one
to wash one's feet and perform `Achamana' after attending to calls of
nature) are doubtless accepted by Smarta-s, but one is not aware of any
classical Advaitin quoting the Varaha as a source text.

Come to think of it, the use of the term `Advaita' to refer to the
doctrine which is now the referent for it, does not seem to have been
common before the 14th century or so (Shankara does not seem to use the
name in that sense, so that for example `Advaita as taught by Sri
Shankara' would in fact be a contradiction in terms in that sense).

Also, at least two verses in the gItA-dhyAnaM -- `vasudevasutaM devam.h'
and `yaM brahmA varuNendrarudramarutaH' -- are actually from the Bhagavata
P.

Therefore, a better educated guess might be that it is a collection of
relevant verses from various sources.  The person(s) who did this, and the
time(s) when it was done, is not clear.

Regards,

Shrisha Rao

> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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